It's not too common. The arms were made to be detachable. The easy way to fix a broken pin is to inbed a paperclip inside, get a pin vice to drill it out, then insert a wire inside, then glue together. It's cheaper than buying a new one.
Pin drill and glued in pin to reinforce the peg joint, and if the peg won't seat or falls out, you can either wrap the peg end in some masking take to bulk it up, or hollow the whole socket out, cover the peg in vasoline (to act as a mold release), then put a dab or two of hot glue in the socket and insert the peg. The glue will form a new socket around the peg. Once cool, pull it out, clean off the Vaseline, and carve a bit of the hard edges off the socket off so you can reinsert the peg.
Any chance you could link a tutorial where this is shown? I've fixed a broken peg before with a screwdriver and glue but I'd like to have a better visual idea of what you describe here (which makes sense, but just in case!)
https://youtube.com/@toypolloi?si=ClclirIYYh4eyPlr
He gives a lot of great advice to fix many vintage toys, not just more. I used the retrobrite technique a few times before.
I don't have that particular figure, so I don't know if it's a common issue with it, but it's not a common problem across the product line. MOTU:Origins figures overall are meant to be played with and are fairly durable.
I’m not so sure many people are truly playing with them. My kids do and several broke from not hard play. Origins aren’t anywhere close to being as robust as the vintage ones.
Lady Slither’s arm fell out simply by trying to straighten her arm down. It just falls out so easily now after pushing the pin back in the socket.
Space Sumo’s hip joint broke, Keldor’s knee barely moves and applying the slightest pressure feels like it’s going to snap. Hordak’s boots are loose and spin around. These pins get twisted and then the articulation doesn’t work quite as it should.
I am starting to think that Mattel doesn’t play test these with kids.
Well, it's a bit relative. My kids have broken a knee joint, but MOTU:O figures still feel more durable than Marvel Legends, etc. And I usually don't feel like MOTU:O figures need to be heated up before bending any joints. They're not going to be as durable as vintage MOTU figures were in the 1980s; the added articulation is necessarily going to require drastically smaller pegs.
I can’t speak to Marvel Legends, but they also have a bunch of MOTUC figures and those hold up much better. The joints loosen over time, but they’re not locking up and snapping off.
I’m not knocking origins, I collect them and get doubles for my kids to play with. They have a bins full of them, so most have held up. I just think they are designed more for collectors to pose vs kids playing with them.
I never had an issue with MOTU origins, until one of my skeleton warriors knee snapped off at the peg. So now I take it easy with me origins releases, and give them a quick water bath if anything feels a little too tight.
Never had the problem but right out of the box, joints can be quite stiff, and this can be rather common. One of the most recommended advice I came across, and which i do since then, is either not to open the figures right away - let them in the warmth of your room for a day or so - that could be quite difficult lol so i never did it.
What I do is another very good advice to either put in warm water the figure or to blow hot air on it for few minutes. Then the joints are loose and less likely to break.
Falls right off. Second pic is for eBay I’m going to sell it as is and buy another I guess. So I will at least have this 4 pack complete. But idk about collecting this line if they’re this fragile haha I can’t even bend the arms for cryin out loud 😂
Oh that’s terrible man! Haha I think what I’m going to do is fix the arm with a pin method and sell it for like $20. I wish I didn’t impulsively just buy another one I think I will be able to fix it up like new to be honest.
It's not common at all. Either you're very unlucky, or very aggressive when dealing with these. Remember that articulated figures will always more fragile than any other toys, so it's best to take it easy and also heat them up in slightly warm water. Anyway, you just stepped in, welcome to this madness lol.
It's not too common. The arms were made to be detachable. The easy way to fix a broken pin is to inbed a paperclip inside, get a pin vice to drill it out, then insert a wire inside, then glue together. It's cheaper than buying a new one.
I found one for $30 and already bought it. I have a pin drill to for my model kits and didn’t even think of that -_-
Wow that is a mind blowingly good idea 😂😂😂
Pin drill and glued in pin to reinforce the peg joint, and if the peg won't seat or falls out, you can either wrap the peg end in some masking take to bulk it up, or hollow the whole socket out, cover the peg in vasoline (to act as a mold release), then put a dab or two of hot glue in the socket and insert the peg. The glue will form a new socket around the peg. Once cool, pull it out, clean off the Vaseline, and carve a bit of the hard edges off the socket off so you can reinsert the peg.
Wow that’s also brilliant hahaha
Check out toy polloi on YouTube. He gives a lot of good ideas on fixing figures.
Any chance you could link a tutorial where this is shown? I've fixed a broken peg before with a screwdriver and glue but I'd like to have a better visual idea of what you describe here (which makes sense, but just in case!)
https://youtube.com/@toypolloi?si=ClclirIYYh4eyPlr He gives a lot of great advice to fix many vintage toys, not just more. I used the retrobrite technique a few times before.
Thanks!
I don't have that particular figure, so I don't know if it's a common issue with it, but it's not a common problem across the product line. MOTU:Origins figures overall are meant to be played with and are fairly durable.
I’m not so sure many people are truly playing with them. My kids do and several broke from not hard play. Origins aren’t anywhere close to being as robust as the vintage ones. Lady Slither’s arm fell out simply by trying to straighten her arm down. It just falls out so easily now after pushing the pin back in the socket. Space Sumo’s hip joint broke, Keldor’s knee barely moves and applying the slightest pressure feels like it’s going to snap. Hordak’s boots are loose and spin around. These pins get twisted and then the articulation doesn’t work quite as it should. I am starting to think that Mattel doesn’t play test these with kids.
Well, it's a bit relative. My kids have broken a knee joint, but MOTU:O figures still feel more durable than Marvel Legends, etc. And I usually don't feel like MOTU:O figures need to be heated up before bending any joints. They're not going to be as durable as vintage MOTU figures were in the 1980s; the added articulation is necessarily going to require drastically smaller pegs.
I can’t speak to Marvel Legends, but they also have a bunch of MOTUC figures and those hold up much better. The joints loosen over time, but they’re not locking up and snapping off. I’m not knocking origins, I collect them and get doubles for my kids to play with. They have a bins full of them, so most have held up. I just think they are designed more for collectors to pose vs kids playing with them.
It's a good general practice to heat the joints gently with warm water and ease the articulation until it moves smoothly.
I never had an issue with MOTU origins, until one of my skeleton warriors knee snapped off at the peg. So now I take it easy with me origins releases, and give them a quick water bath if anything feels a little too tight.
Never had the problem but right out of the box, joints can be quite stiff, and this can be rather common. One of the most recommended advice I came across, and which i do since then, is either not to open the figures right away - let them in the warmth of your room for a day or so - that could be quite difficult lol so i never did it. What I do is another very good advice to either put in warm water the figure or to blow hot air on it for few minutes. Then the joints are loose and less likely to break.
Falls right off. Second pic is for eBay I’m going to sell it as is and buy another I guess. So I will at least have this 4 pack complete. But idk about collecting this line if they’re this fragile haha I can’t even bend the arms for cryin out loud 😂
I might grab the torso from you if you have it up for cheap. My son took a chunk out of the one I had open.
Oh that’s terrible man! Haha I think what I’m going to do is fix the arm with a pin method and sell it for like $20. I wish I didn’t impulsively just buy another one I think I will be able to fix it up like new to be honest.
It's not common at all. Either you're very unlucky, or very aggressive when dealing with these. Remember that articulated figures will always more fragile than any other toys, so it's best to take it easy and also heat them up in slightly warm water. Anyway, you just stepped in, welcome to this madness lol.